Day: January 17, 2020

Out With The Old

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and again incorporated into my yoga/physio practice at the end of the forty minute session I do daily. Moving from the ebb and flow of my yoga practice into the stillness of those ten minutes at the end of the practice feels really nice, and gives my body time to ease out of the stretching and exercise to a calm state.   I really like it.

Spacious TarotToday’s draw is a double without a jumper, meaning that the cards came out together as one from the deck.   The cards in today’s draw are the Ace of Pentacles atop the Death card.

When I see these two cards together today, the message that I get from this imagery is that in order for new things to happen, sometimes old things have to die off first.  Its a part of the ebb and flow of life that some things must fade in order to make room for new things to develop.    It’s a rhythm that fits into every facet of life, and it’s no different in mine.

The appearance of these cards is a reminder that you can only fit so much on your plate.  In order to fit in more, you have to let go of something, because only so much will manage to stay on the plate at once.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What simple way can I show my loved ones that I value them this year?

Field Tarot

Reading Summary:   Make sure I’m there for them (Prince of Discs) during times of change (Death), and willing to lend an ear without casting judgement (The swan consulting it’s reflection in the Judgement card), and help them find a way forward (Chariot) when they are having trouble seeing a their path through (Princess of Wands) those difficult times.

Take Away:  Sometimes what loved ones need most is an ear and a little help finding the path through the trees.  This is something that my loved ones come to me for now and then through the years and it sounds like this year will be another one of those years.

DECK USED:  THE FIELD TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: How can I overcome my weaknesses?

Tarot Cats

Reading Summary: Weaknesses are not meant to be overcome (The Moon), instead they are meant to be sat with and learned from (Four of Cups) so that you can move forward into personal growth and while learning how to utilize those weaknesses to your advantage (Seven of Pentacles) for the future.

Take Away:  This answer really makes sense to me, because I’ve never really understood how you “overcome” weaknesses.  To me, everyone has weaknesses and you learn to adapt to them and use them to your advantage.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t still a weakness, only that they have become a useful weakness.

DECK USED:  TAROT CATS

 

Using Visualization in Spellcraft

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

This week’s question from the Pagan Perspective YouTube channel is about visualization and how it’s used in one’s practice and in everyday life.

visualization

Topic for the Week of 1/13: “Although the word makes us think only of vision and our sense of sight, the practice of visualization involves any and all senses, not just sight but also scent, sound, touch, and even taste…”

There are multiple questions included in the continuation of the topic for this week, so I am going to break those questions up below, because I think it’ll be easier to answer that way, rather than taking the whole thing on at once.   So…

1) Do you practice this skill or use it in your path?

Oh hell yes.  All the time.  Anyone that reads a book and imagines what’s going on in the book in your head, or writes fiction, or daydreams about this or that is doing visualization.

In spellcrafting, especially, it is an extremely valuable tool used to set intentions and direct energy into those intentions.

It is also an excellent method of meditation.  One of my favorite meditations when I was first starting out at meditation was to visualize peeling and eating an orange, as it is one that has a very distinctive and strong ability to incorporate all five senses.

2) What do you actually DO when you ‘visualize’ something?

Visualization triggers the parts of the brain that have to do with receptors for each of your senses.   So it’s not just “thinking” about doing something, but awakening those parts of the brain that register sensation and… well, playing with them.

3) Do you find that it comes easily to you, or do you struggle with it?

I’ve been doing visualization all my life, both in my practice and path, as well as in the day to day.  So it’s not really something I think about anymore, to be honest.

4) Are certain inner senses easier to use than others? For example some people may find inner sight difficult, but hear things easily, and so on.

Because of my synesthesia, the hearing one always feels a bit weird because with visualizations it doesn’t always kick in as it does with actual auditory input.   But other than that… not really.  I would say that visualization-wise, my sense of smell is the weakest.

5) What do your physical eyes ‘see’ when you visualize something?

They don’t.   I don’t hallucinate when visualizing.  Whatever I’m visualizing plays out in my mind, not in the physical world in front of me.

6) Do you have any tips for others working on this skill? For those who struggle, what are other things that can be done instead?

I think a lot of people don’t realize that creative writing is a type of visualization.  That reading a work of fiction is a type of visualization.   They think that it’s some esoteric skill they can’t tap into, but have been doing it all along and not realizing it.   Use those ways of visualizing that are familiar to you and take steps to begin reaching beyond them.

Instead of reading a book, make up a story in your head.  Pay attention to what you’re doing in your head beyond just producing words, yeah?  Do you see your character doing those things?   Can you feel what that character feels?   That is visualization.   Practice and pay attention, yeah?

7)  Does struggling with visualization prevent growth in our practice?

I believe it could.   Without visualization, the energy placed into intention setting wouldn’t have the same kind of -drive- behind it.  That drive is what pushes the energy forward into creating the results you seek, so I sort of wonder if spellcasting without it would even work?   I’m not sure, as this isn’t a problem I deal with personally.